On Where President Bush Was When Hearing the News of Saddam's Capture:
MS. SAWYER: It was a very emotional day for many Americans, for many people, and certainly for the troops. We--we haven't gotten a sense exactly personally, but you did.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, I was at Camp David.
Well let's see I was on one of my rare 3 week vacations that I insist on taking only once per month
Laura and I went up to Camp David to make sure that the remodeled cabins were ready for Mother and Dad and some of my brothers and--and sister.
Yeah, the last time they were there they had to keep the back door open just to accommodate Mother's attitude and Neil's gaggle of prostitutes, so they added an addition.
And so she was out scouting around the place, and I was at what they call Aspen, which is the presidential cabin, reading the book on Ben Franklin.
Would have loved to hear the stuttering and stammering if Sawyer would have shot back quickly - Oh? WHICH BOOK? But alas no such luck from our dear liberal media
And the phone--the man came in, the guy at the house came in and said, "There's a secure phone call from Secretary Rumsfeld." That doesn't happen very often.
It doesn't happen very often... If it's a secure line shouldn't you know the guy who picked up the phone? I wonder if he had it shaped like the Batphone
And my first anticipation was something bad had happened.
Because something bad is always happening. He's just lucky he wasn't eating a pretzel at the time.
And he got on the phone and said, "First reports aren't always accurate, but John Abizaid thinks that we have captured Saddam Hussein."
MS. SAWYER: At that moment, what happened inside you?
It sounded something like this
PRESIDENT BUSH: At that moment, a cautionary note came, because I had been disappointed before. My instincts were to say, "That is good news, but let's make sure it's true." And the Secretary and I spent time talking about how to make sure that whatever message was delivered was based upon fact, not hope, because the worst thing that could possibly have happened is that--is that there was a declaration out of Baghdad by a soldier, for example, that Saddam was captured and it turned out not to be him. And so I was very cautious then.
I guess that would be like saying we killed Chemical Ali 3 times, now that would be embarrassing wouldn't it? Or stating on Polish television that we had found the Weapons of Mass Destruction? Yes, this man has learned a lot as preznint...
It was the next morning when Ms. Rice called--that would be Condi Rice
How cute, he calls her Ms. Rice. I wonder if he brings he puts an apple on her desk in the morning as well
--5:15 in the morning, saying, "It has been confirmed out of Baghdad that we have captured Saddam Hussein," that I began to get this sense of joy for the Iraqi people and a sense of accomplishment for our troops, because I know how hard they had been working to accomplish this mission.
He didn't just say "mission accomplished" did he? I hope they still have that banner.
On Reaction of Saddam's Daughter to the Photos:
MS. SAWYER: His daughter has said that those photos were disrespectful and humiliating to him, but he also seemed sedated, by the way.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Yeah.
MS. SAWYER: Was he sedated? And was it designed to humiliate him?
PRESIDENT BUSH: No, I don't--first of all, I don't know if he was sedated or not. I mean, that's a question you'd ask the folks in the field.
Translation: yes he was obviously sedated, probably by the Iraqis who were holding him captive trying to get the ransom money we screwed them out of. But, hey what does he know, He's just the President, the buck stops waaaaay over there in Iraq
Secondly, it was designed to reflect the truth and to show--and to show the world that this barbaric person was found in a hole, hiding, cowering,
You know, the type of cowardice of - say a member of the Air National guard who deserts his post during a time of war. Is that the kind of cowardice you are talking about Georgie? Geez this all sounds awfully personal doesn't it? Funny how Bush didn't offer these same type of humiliating remarks when the equally cruel tyrant Charles Taylor was deposed in Liberia - of course Chuck never tried to kill his daddy
that--it's also interesting that he's going to receive the justice that he never gave others. And it's--it's a dramatic moment. And I can understand a daughter being concerned about her dad. I mean, presumably somewhere in this hard, barbaric heart there was some love for his child. And--but he showed no love for the Iraqi people, particularly those that dared express an opinion other than his.
let's all just sit and think about the hypocrisy of that last line...I'm sure Helen Thomas ponders it every time she gets shoved into the hallway when president Codpiece takes his pre-approved questions from the press